Heat icon says Bam Adebayo-Tyler Herro fight was ‘blown out of proportion’
Retired Miami Heat forward and captain Udonis Haslem found himself in more than a few altercations during his NBA playing career. But during the last few days, Haslem has found himself in the middle of an altercation that he wasn’t even involved in.
In the wake of the physical altercation between former Heat teammates Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro at a practice court set up outside of Resorts World Las Vegas on Friday morning, longtime Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green called out Haslem during an episode of Green’s podcast, “The Draymond Green Show,” released over the weekend because the fight involved “two guys Udonis Haslem raised.” And Haslem shot right back at Green on X on Sunday night, again calling out Green for punching former Warriors teammate Jordan Poole during a practice in October 2022.
But it turns out, Haslem is also serving as somewhat of a mediator between Adebayo and Herro since their altercation.
I’ve talked to both of them,” Haslem said to South Florida media while sitting courtside for the Heat’s 90-73 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers as part of Las Vegas Summer League on Monday night at UNLV’s Pavilion.
Some of the first reports indicated that Adebayo threw a punch at Herro’s head before the two were separated, but some league sources have indicated that initial portrayals of the fight were overblown. Haslem agrees.
“I don’t have any takeaway on it,” Haslem continued when asked about the Adebayo-Herro dust-up. “I mean, I felt like it was blown out of proportion, felt like it was made bigger than what it was. And there’s a lot of time that they’ll have to figure things out before the season comes around.”
The altercation between Adebayo and Herro was sparked by recent comments apparently made by Herro on social media critiquing Adebayo and also showing some resentment toward Adebayo.
Adebayo and Herro spent the past seven seasons as Heat teammates before Herro was dealt to the Milwaukee Bucks this summer as part of the Giannis Antetokounmpo trade. Haslem was their Heat teammates for four of those seasons prior to retiring.
“My only comment is no comment,” Herro said Friday when asked about the incident while on his way out of Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.
A Heat spokesperson said Friday of the incident: “We are aware and not commenting.”
Herro, as of Monday afternoon, had neither filed a police report nor filed a lawsuit against Adebayo.
Whether the NBA plans to move on, without disciplinary action, is a decision that apparently hasn’t been made. A league spokesperson told the Miami Herald that it’s undetermined if the league will investigate.
Police were not called to respond to the Adebayo-Herro altercation on Friday, the Las Vegas Police Department told the Miami Herald.
